I feel like reviving this blog.

I miss writing. I've been reading like a hound since I've been on break from school. Library books, used books I bought years ago, old emails from the courtship of Euf and I, my old Nanowrimo novel. Reading, reading, reading. And Euf's been writing like a hound. After I decided the novel was not worth editing, we decided he could adapt it into a screenplay. And he is. Which is awesome. It's been fun tossing off inciting incidents and visual motifs together.

But all this reading makes me miss writing. I wrote in journals pretty regularly from the seventh grade, all the way up to my NYC days. And when I moved to SF, I started blogging. In the last year though, where has the outlet been? Missing.

I've been tossing around short story ideas, reading books with writing exercises, even jotting down shitty poetry, but it all feels like so much pressure. And then I remembered my neglected blog. So here I am. What better way to get into the habit again.

Because reading old stuff reminded me that I like recording my personal history, no matter how pretentious or self-indulgent it is. I always have. Otherwise your memories just become vague foggy visuals. When I read through the old emails Euf and I used to send back in 2001, I was shocked how many stories I'd forgotten. Brief moments of meaningfulness to me that just evaporated over time.

Anyway, I'm back. For now. We'll see how long this lasts.

Finally! San Francisco, July 2008.

Ok, these are all my pics (that I care to share, I have a gazillion more crappier ones) from my trip to SF this summer for Crazy Girls' Weekend, as it came to be known. The six of us from Cuse all gathered at Annika's home in Oakland to celebrate our common 30th birthdays this year. There was wine, cake, gang signs, hysteria, crafts, and lots of pictures. Good times all around.

Next blogging catch up project: Twin Cities/Webster 4th of July pics. Hopefully I'll get them up in the next week or so before my school year starts. In fact, I can almost guarantee they'll be up before August 25th, because frankly, I won't have time to do it after that, with my rambunctuous first grade class roster. :)

The good old N-Judah and the approach to the ballpark. Sigh.

Annika cracks me up.



Willie!







Love that wide angle lens.

To think they were freshman roommates in college all those years ago. :) This is up on a hill in an amazing cemetary in Oakland. Beautiful views of the Bay.





Gene Simmons tongue!



Stained glass in Winchester Mystery house.

Loved this spider window in the Winchester Mystery House.



And so begins the "13" gang symbol we created that weekend. That, in fact, was the moment of creation. And you might be able to sense the craziness in Annika's eyes. About ten seconds after this picture was taken, both of us were in tears uncontrollably laughing. We lost our shit entirely. The tour guide was bad, and mockable, and it made us nuts.



We're less crazy here. Hooray for fresh air!





I like how Sue's head looks like it's floating.

More Healdsburg stuff.

This was Healdsburg Day, and people were already going a little bit bonkers. :)



Drunk!





I love the look of suspicion, but I especially love the picture on the laptop. :)

Fun with continuous shot mode on the camera! Yes, we're grown adults.

And then there was the bubble wrap.

"Be a tiger!"



This is what happens after you watch Project Runway. Geriann is very serious here.



Heh, that reflection off the frame behind Audrey's right hand makes it look like she's holding a cigarette, all classy-like. How model-esqe.





Her best haute couture pose.

"I don't see where it says lactating bitches on this!"



"Oh, right there."

Introducing Saltay, the official cake of Crazy Girls' Weekend 2008, courtesy of Audrey and Geriann. We always bake cakes when we get together and this was no exception.



Let's just say that lighting 30 candles in the shape of the number 30 with really old candles from the convenience store across the street...well, the candles didn't hold up so well.



I actually have a series of pictures I took (again, with E's continuous shot mode) of Annika doing some cool taekwondo kicks, but this one is the coolest by itself, I think.



Believe it or not, there were MadLibs. Annika has a picture of me reading one, Regina smiling in her sleep and Geriann falling off the couch in laughter. Good times.

This is Regina's bitchy face. It is a classic, and I feel downright honored to have captured a more recent picture of it. :) Oh, we're at the Japanese Tea Garden in these pics, hence the tea. :)









Nothing says love like your friend flipping you off.

And the Chihuly exhibit at the DeYoung! One of the best art exhibits I've ever seen!

The Farmer's Market near Annika's house was amazing! Audrey and I couldn't help ourselves and ended up buying enough stuff for both lunch and dinner that day. Lunch: steamed sweet corn, guacamole & chips, and a lovely fresh salad. Dinner: Steamed artichokes (um, but slightly burnt) and burgers on a fresh loaf of sourdough. So good.

And the strawberries! And blueberries! And nectarines! Sigh.

A bunch of these pictures look like we're having really serious conversations and whatnot, but I believe we were all drunk. In the middle of a Sunday afternoon. We spent the day drinking wine, eating fresh farmers' market goodies and crazily making arts and crafts.

Dr. Sue is sad because she can't open the doggie gate.



Instead of helping her, I continue to take her picture to document the moment.



The arts & crafts shenanery! We made photo albums! By ourselves! After drinking a bunch of wine!





The finished project. The title comes from the fact that Audrey (and subsequently all of us) started many a sentence with the words, "Now that I'm thirty..."

My SF wanderings.

I spent one Monday entirely in SF, mostly by myself, except for choice meals with old friends. It was lovely seeing the city wake up and start their day while I just kind of watched. I managed to drive, walk and public trans around the city and I ate my face off.

My first stops? A drive through Golden Gate Park.

Ah, SF hippies. I took a lot of pictures in the Haight because I had some time to kill between dropping my peeps off at SFO at 5:30 am and when the Pork Store Cafe opened at 7 am. The Haight at 6 in the morning basically consists of one homeless dude, the really early morning commuting crowd, and the people unloading fruits and veggies for the market. Really quiet and nice.









Always my personal favorites.

Gloomy Haight Street



Lovely Golden Gate Park



This might not be that interesting a picture to you, but the fact that I actually walked by a MUNI bus where the driver had to get out and rehook up the electrical dodads was AWESOME. It's the little things you miss.



I'm just a sucker for the street signs.



Ah, Four Embarcadero.

I miss biking along that mural. There was nothing like biking home from work seeing all the people on the N-Judah trapped like sardines, and you're biking easy with the wind blowing through your hair.



I even went up to Coit Tower! What a freaking tourist I am. Like I haven't already been there like 6 times.



I love this shot though, love the gloomy SF sky. Sweet loving gloominess.



And hey, one of the last things I did in the Bay Area was get a haircut! Woohoo!

Whoa pictures!

And so begins a giant blog update. These next 8 billion posts are just a sampling. If you want to snoop through more, drop me a line.

The entire Xmas crew.



I still don't know what my sister is doing in the picture.



Aw, he's actually framed perfectly with his stocking!



Pretty typical post-meal shot. Wine and talking at the table, long after the food is gone. My dad looks like he's on a roll here.



My folks.

Family, Part 2

Outside the Homestead

I just have to say that I've taken this particular photo from our deck so many times over the years. It always feels right to take this shot. I should dig up all the old ones and see how it's changed over the years.

Inside the Homestead

The house I lived in since the fourth grade. I still love it.



My mom knit those stockings when we were little. I wonder if anyone does that anymore.



Great shot by E.



My parents' wedding photo.

The many faces of my sister.

My favorite subject in the world, mostly because she makes great faces, both knowingly and unknowingly.

Our first day back East

We took an red-eye into Boston, about 30 minutes before the snow started falling. My sister picked us up and we gallavanted a bit in Boston before heading to my parents' house. Our first stop was this place specifically for the Mapparium:





The last time I was in this particular part of Boston, it was summer and I was trying to find my way to Fenway Park on foot without a map. Ah, the memories. It looks quite different during snowfall.





After all the traipsing and driving in the snow, we had beer. Good times.

Walking the Freedom Trail

Our last day in town, we went back to Boston (where we were flying out of that night) and walked most of the Freedom Trail. Good times.

I am shallow. I like this picture because of the red brick line signaling the Freedom Trail, but mostly because I look pretty good from behind! Woohoo!



There's just something about the old cemetaries right there in the middle of the city.



Ah, Quincy Market. So crowded and anxiety-ridden, yet still so pretty.



The Holocaust Memorial

Providence!

So, one the days we spent back East, E and I decided to drive the hour down to Providence and wander around checking it out. Partly because we like new cities and partly because we have a tentative long-term plan about maybe moving back East and we wanted to check out some options. Anyway, it was a fun, easy day. Providence isn't very large, so it was easy to bump around.

I personally liked the old industrial New England feel, plus we ran into a neat little arty section downtown with TONS of neat stores, where we were amongst the Providence arty doing their last minute Christmas shopping. Frankly, the stuff we ran across was fabulous and I'd wished I'd had a little MORE shopping to do. Who ever says that?

So, some pictures!







Euf's pics of Big Nazo Lab. This place had these amazing puppets in the windows. Apparently they're a big arty puppet-type collaborative, and if that didn't make me smile and think of my pal Tina, I don't know what would. :)

A little more Providence

This one's not mine, but E's and holy crap, I love it. It was his first shot of the morning and it kills me. This was right downtown, across from Johnson and Wales, I believe.



Cellar Stories Books was ironically located on the second store, but it was the best used bookstore I'd been to in a long time. It rivaled Green Apple in San Francisco, frankly, and I didn't think any bookstore could do that. (And yes, Eufrey and I are geeks who go to new cities and purposely research used bookstores to visit ahead of time.)

For the record, the look on my face is, "I wonder if that parking lot across the street has a garbage can I can throw this empty Dunkin Donuts coffee cup into."



These are all mine. Figures that old books finally get me to get my camera out and shoot something. For the record, I bought an old hardcover of Wuthering Heights here. I needed some memento of the store, and nothing better than a classic I've yet to read.